This invention concerns a support for auxiliary lenses, suitable to be attached to a glasses frame equipped with main lenses, in order to temporally associate a pair of additional lenses, for example sun lenses, with said main lenses.
The support according to the invention allows to assemble the auxiliary lenses securely and in such a manner as to allow a plurality of lenses, different in shape and size, to be coupled.
Moreover, the support does not require complex equipment to make it, and allows a personalized production able to satisfy the clients"" specific requirements in an extremely short time and at very limited cost.
The state of the art includes various attachment and support devices used to temporally associate a pair of auxiliary lenses, for example sun lenses, to a glasses frame. These devices generally consist of a support, or trunk, which substantially defines an auxiliary frame, with a precise and defined shape, and comprising a plurality of metal hooks welded thereto and arranged to anchor the auxiliary frame to the main frame of the glasses.
Producing a trunk of the type mentioned above entails preparing the equipment to shape and weld the metal wires, which requires a long time to prepare and work. Therefore, it is substantially impossible for producers of this accessory to satisfy clients"" specific requirements in a short time and at reasonable cost. Moreover, with time, the metal hooks often do not have a sufficient grip, and repeated operations to assemble/dis-assemble them can progressively reduce the solidity of the hooks and cause them to bend or break.
Even if the hooks are covered with a protective material they can in any case scratch or damage the glasses frame to which they are applied.
Moreover, the welds with which the hooks are attached to the trunk, or with which the lenses are attached to the bridge, must be made with extreme care, so they are not visible and do not compromise the overall aesthetics of the glasses; this entails a further increase in the production costs.
Other solutions provide auxiliary attachment elements, such as screws, rivets, or similar, or use glues to couple the hooks with the relative lenses. These solutions entail a considerable and often unsustainable increase in production costs and times for the supports.
The present Applicant has devised and embodied this invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art, and to obtain other advantages as will be shown hereafter.
The invention is set forth and characterized in the main claim, while the dependent claims describe other innovative characteristics of the invention.
The main purpose of the invention is to achieve a support for auxiliary lenses which does not require particular, complex and expensive production equipment, which will be easy and inexpensive to make and which can therefore be produced even in small, personalized quantities according to the clients"" requests.
A further purpose is to achieve a support for lenses which can be adapted to every type of frame, which will considerably reduce the risk of scratches or damage to the frame on which it is applied, and which will remain substantially unchanged with time, always ensuring high reliability and grip.
The support for auxiliary lenses according to the invention comprises first attachment elements arranged on the periphery of each lens and suitable to anchor themselves to the glasses frame on which the lenses have to be applied.
In a preferential embodiment, the support also comprises at least a connection bridge which, by means of second attachment elements attached to the respective lenses, unites the two auxiliary lenses.
In one embodiment of the invention, the second attachment elements not only have the function of supporting the bridge and connecting it to the auxiliary lenses, but also of anchoring themselves to the glasses frame to couple said support for the auxiliary lenses to the glasses themselves.
In a preferential embodiment, for every auxiliary lens there is one of said first attachment elements and one of said second attachment elements, distanced from each other along the edge of the lens; the second element, associated with the bridge, is arranged on the upper part of the lens and the first element is arranged on the lower part thereof. Advantageously, said two attachment elements are displaced towards the outer side of the relative lens.
According to a variant, there are at least two of said first attachment elements for every lens, for example one in its lower part and one in its lateral or upper part.
The first and second attachment elements are made of at least partly elastic plastic material.
According to the invention, each of said first attachment elements consists of a segment with a section substantially shaped like an upside down U, able to attach itself to the respective auxiliary lens, and of a hook-type extension able to anchor itself elastically to the frame of the glasses on which the auxiliary lenses are applied.
The upside down U segment, according to the invention, has elastic means able to be inserted and mechanically clamped inside a mating cavity made in the lens, ensuring that the auxiliary lenses are clamped securely, stably and enduringly, and preventing any risk of the segment accidentally coming out.
The second attachment elements are suitable to be mounted and clamped to the respective ends of the connection bridge, which has its ends shaped in such a manner as to ensure an indissoluble connection, which also prevents any risk of the segment accidentally coming out.
The connection bridge is advantageously made of plastic or metal material, preferably of wire, to ensure the desired elasticity and flexibility of the entire support and to allow the support to be easily coupled with the frame of the glasses, by exploiting this elasticity.
When the second attachment elements also have the function of anchoring themselves to the glasses frame, the elasticity and flexibility of the connection bridge reinforces the coupling between the support for auxiliary lenses and the frame; in fact, said attachment elements are kept constantly under tension in their position, thus preventing the connection from loosening, or any possible accidental detachment.
According to a variant, the connection bridge is made of semi-rigid metal material.
The second attachment elements, when their only function is to attach the bridge, are substantially shaped like an upside down U, and in turn have elastic means suitable to be inserted and mechanically clamped into cavities made in the lenses for this purpose, in order to ensure an enduring attachment, substantially preventing any risk of the attachment means accidentally coming out.
On the contrary, when the second attachment elements also function as a coupling between the support for auxiliary lenses and the glasses, they are substantially identical to the first attachment means.
Thanks to the elastic clamping means, it is extremely quick and easy to assemble the first and second attachment means to the relative lenses, and no auxiliary equipment or working is required.
In a variant, the attachment elements and the lenses, and the second attachment elements and the bridge, are coupled together definitively, by using adhesives.
The support for auxiliary lenses according to the invention therefore does not provide auxiliary structures of the type with a metal trunk, such as those known in the state of the art, but provides to use universal elements, which can be prepared and assembled in a very short time and at a very limited cost, and then associated with lenses cut according to the required shape. Moreover, the support does not provide either complex assembly procedures, or auxiliary elements such as screws, rivets or similar; nor does it require holes or threads to couple and attach the attachment elements to the relative lenses.